COMMENT | When all is said, Dr Mahathir Mohamad owes the Chinese an apology for his absurd and defamatory 'chopsticks' gibberish.

Several concerned Malaysians have reacted. Professor Tajuddin Rasdi is spot on. Mahathir is indulging in his ploy of race-baiting, he reckons in his Sin Chew Daily online column. And the Chinese are not taking the bait. That's why you don't see them run amok in the streets.

Malaysiakini columnist Mariam Mokhtar in shooting down the 'Malaysian maverick' has hit the nail on the head: Will Mahathir start treating the Chinese the same as the Malays if they eat with their fingers? Unlikely.

Mahathir, more than anyone, is the reason Malaysia is the sick old man of Asia. And it’s not his age. If anyone follows his logic, they will end up in Tanjung Rambutan. It isn't a sick joke either. The man is a hive of self-contradictions and many of his comments are untrue. For example, other countries don't force their migrants to assimilate. They adopt a multicultural policy instead.

The truth to him is like a concertina - stretchable. Many will treat his memoirs like the Omicron virus.

Follow his logic and scratch your head: Malays are lazy, they must learn from the Chinese. But they mustn't use chopsticks? He promised Malaysians a 'clean, efficient and trustworthy' government; he gave them Najib Abdul Razak. He said Anwar Ibrahim punched himself in jail; his top cop was convicted for assaulting Anwar. And so, the never-ending and never stacking up stories go on...